Sunday, November 11, 2012

Food for thought...

As acting students, we are often told that our lives will influence and teach us so much about our art. But I've found the opposite to be true as well. Acting has taught me a lot about living.

I've been in a weird place lately. So much of my life is just how I want it to be. My family is going through major changes. But the changes are great and exciting. My friends are incredible. They love me and I love them. But there are some things that just aren't going the way I want them to. And I've been fighting tooth and nail to get them to work, and it just isn't happening.

My life completely changed as an actor when I made a breakthrough about auditions. I one day realized just how silly auditioning was. There is so much about the casting process that you have zero control over! Whether or not you are a hard worker and whether or not you are talented are only two of the HUNDREDS of things that go into casting. As an actor, you have absolutely no control over whether or not you are what the casting director is looking for. You can only be you. And if that isn't what they want, that's that. When this finally dawned on me, my audition process completely changed. I suddenly realized that because auditioning was so unfair and out of my control, I needed to have control over the few things I could (being prepared, etc). But more importantly, I had to let go of the rest. Because if I'm stressing over the things I can't control, I'm doing the directors job, not my own. And being an actor is hard enough without having to be a director as well.

What I'm realizing lately is that this has a direct correlation to real life. I'm unhappy with many things that are beyond my control. Why can't things just fall into place for me like they seem to be doing for others? And then it dawned on me. If I'm stressing over things I can't change, I'm doing someone else's job. If I can't get a handle on the things in my life I can control, why would I even want control over the rest?

MJ

1 comment:

  1. Having been on the other end of auditions (being the one holding auditions), I completely concur.

    The individual audition is only one facet of many in choosing a cast. And I've experienced just as much let down not giving a role to someone who I thought did an amazing job auditioning as I have not getting a role when I thought I auditioned well.

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